Networks of Exchange: AP World Modern 1200-1450

Kashgar

a central trading point where the Eastern and Western Silk Roads met.

Samarkand

During the rule of Timur Lane was the most influential captial city, a wealthy trading center known for decorated mosques and tombs.

Bills of Exchange

Established exchange rates between different coinage systems

Banking Houses

These European banks developed during the Middle Ages to aid trade. Along with innovations such as bills of exchange, or bank drafts, and credit, the rise of banking houses supported the development of interregional trade in luxury goods.

paper money

legal currency issued on paper; it developed in China as a convenient alternative to metal coins

Silk Road

An ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean Sea extending some 6,440 km (4,000 mi) and linking China with the Roman Empire. Marco Polo followed the route on his journey to Cathay.

Mongols

Central Asian nomadic peoples; smashed Turko-Persian kingdoms; captured Baghdad in 1258 and killed last Abbasid caliph

Ghengis Khan

He was the founder of the Mongol Empire

Effects of Mongol Rule

The Mongol Empire would become the largest empire at its peak, stretching from China as far as Russia. Mongol rule in these areas integrated them from the rest of the world, and stimulated trade between Europe and Asia. This would have profound effects that would continue many centuries after the disintegration of the empire (which was caused by the need for different styles or government in different areas, and war between Chingis' successors), including stimulating Europeans to explore the world looking for Asia's riches.

Indian Ocean Trade

world's richest maritime trading network that was essential for the prosperity of East Africa

Swahili Coast

East African shores of the Indian Ocean between the Horn of Africa and the Zambezi River; from the Arabic sawahil, meaning 'shores.'

Gujarat

Region of western India famous for trade and manufacturing.

Malacca Strait

Important "choke point" in Indian Ocean Trade. Control of this passage meant wealth and power.

Diasporic communities

merchant communities that introduced their own cultures into other areas

Trans-Saharan Trade

route across the sahara desert. Major trade route that traded for gold and salt, created caravan routes, economic benefit for controlling dessert, camels played a huge role in the trading

Camel Saddle

An invention which gives camel riders more stability on the animal and its invention and basic idea traveled along the Trans-Saharan Caravan Trade Route. Invented somewhere between 500 and 100 BCE by Bedouin tribes.

Caravans

Groups of people traveling together for safety over long distances

Caravanserai

an inn in some Eastern countries with a large courtyard that provides accommodation for caravans

Spread of Islam in Africa

This religion spread through trade and conquest

Spread of Hinduism and Buddhism

Hinduism and Buddhism travelled the Silk roads attracting Converts far from their original homelands. When merchants travelled they practiced their religion among themselves and explained it to others.

Ibn Battuta

Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan.

Margery Kempe

Wrote the Book of Margery Kempe - considered the 1st autobiography in the Eng. language. Chronicles her pilgrimages to holy sites in Europe and Asia. Claimed to have vision that called her to leave the vanities of the world (saw vision of Christ). Was tempted by sex and jealousy, but was devout. Acts as best insight that points to a mid. class female experience in the Middle Ages. Records the tension in late medieval England between orthodoxy and religious dissent. Was tried for illegal acts, but proved orthodoxy. Went into crying fits and many were skeptical, but eventually believed she spoke with God.

Marco Polo

Venetian merchant and traveler. His accounts of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade.